City of Milwaukee – Wisconsin, USA

The challenge

In the Great Lakes region - with 20% of the world's drinking water supply and 84% of North America's surface freshwater - Lake Michigan is the largest freshwater reservoir in the United States. Along its shores, not only the city of Milwaukee, but also the industries that have traditionally been its growth catalysts, rely heavily on water for both production and transport. As a result, the United States and Canada signed an agreement to restore and maintain the physical, chemical and biological integrity of the water in the Great Lakes.

Customer objectives

The Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District (MMSD), the largest public wastewater treatment system under private operating contract in the United States, decided to outsource its facilities to an operations and maintenance service provider with proven reliable asset management as well as operational expertise. In addition, the partner is expected to share MMSD's demanding commitment to CSR.

Veolia's solution

Put in place an exemplary process combining the treatment and recycling of wastewater, the elimination and recovery of waste from treatment and the reduction of the amount of energy consumed by all these operations.
 

Innovation

OptiRTC, a cloud-based analytics tool, uses predictive technology that anticipates the weather and feeds information to a virtual dashboard. With their limited rainwater collection capacity, water treatment plants can prepare more effectively and redirect the surplus into suitable reservoirs.

Technologies

Veolia, which in addition operates a landfill site 27 km from Milwaukee, uses biogas from the anaerobic digestion of waste to reduce the energy consumption of the Jones Island plant. The recovered methane is transported by pipeline. This operation has cut the site's natural gas consumption in half, saving 1.5 million dekatherms per year. Opening a new biogas production plant brings the proportion of operations fuelled by biogas to close to 85%.

Customer benefits

Environmental performance

• Since 2008, Veolia has been operating the MMSD water recovery complex in full compliance with the water legislation and strictly adhering to quality standards. The production of Milorganite® - MMSD's emblematic biosolids product - also regularly meets quality standards in more than 95% of cases.

• In partnership with the University of Wisconsin's Great Lakes Water Institute, Marquette University and MMSD, Veolia conducted the first-ever study of the carbon footprint of Milwaukee's water to measure the impact of human activity on the resource and its cost. It included looking for trace pharmaceuticals in the catchment areas as well as potential improvements in the wastewater treatment process.

• Veolia is also committed to its $1.5 million R&D program (2009-2019) in support of initiatives to improve water quality and reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the Great Lakes region.

Economic performance

With the focus on cost reduction, Veolia has saved the MMSD and taxpayers more than $150 million since 2008. In addition, the sale of Milorganite® compost generates more than $10 million in revenue (2017).

Societal performance

• Veolia employs 260 people in information technology, industrial and environmental services and support functions at its sites in Germantown, Greenfield, Menomonee Falls and Milwaukee. Through demanding and comprehensive training programs, its employees achieve industry-leading safety results.

• Veolia's purchasing programs reserved for Milwaukee's social enterprises (Small Women Minority Business Enterprise - SWMBE) account for about 36% of the more than $40 million total annual spending.